In My Skin cast: How actor Jo Hartley prepared for bipolar role 'I was petrified'

IN MY SKIN is the new comedy-drama starring Gabrielle Creevy and Jo Hartley. Hartley plays Katrina, a mother diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Hartley spoke to press in London, including Express.co.uk about how she prepared for the challenging role.

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All five episodes of In My Skin are streaming on the BBC iPlayer now. Episodes of In My Skin also air every Wednesday on BBC One, with episode two airing tonight (Wednesday, April 8) at 10.45pm. In episode two, Bethan (played by Gabrielle Creevy) is asked if she would like to move out of her troubled family home and live with her Nana after her mother was taken to a mental health facility.

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AfterLife actress Jo Hartley takes on an entirely different role in In My Skin on BBC.

The dark comedy series comes from writer Kayleigh Llewellyn who has used her own experiences with mental health in her family to create the coming-of-age story about teenager Bethan who is leading a double life.

Bethan, who is 16-years-old, is hiding a huge secret from her friends – her mother Katrina (Jo Hartley) suffers from bipolar disorder and has been sectioned in a mental facility.

Her father, Dilwyn, (Rhodri Miller) is also an alcoholic, who does not know how to care for himself, let alone his wife.

Hartley portrays Katrina, Bethan’s mother who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has been sectioned numerous times.

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In episode one, Bethan took her mother to hospital after she suffered a manic episode and as a result, Katrina was kept in a psychiatric facility.

Speaking to press in London, including Express.co.uk Hartley opened up about the role, describing it as a “physical, emotional, spiritual, experience.”

Hartley continued: “When we got to the show, I was petrified, to be honest. I have a friend who's bipolar. It's a very, for me, it was a very physical, emotional spiritual experience.”

She also opened up about how she prepared for the intense role and also revealed there was some improvisation on set.

Gabrielle Creevy and Jo Hartley in In My Skin (Image: BBC)

Hartley explained “It was something that had to use, technical things that I've never used before in a role and I had to use my imagination, I had to be in a confident place and totally let go.

“And the environment was a really safe loving environment. Kayleigh [writer] and Lucy [Forbes, director] had lots of experience [with bipolar], I did.

"Lucy and I had a scale actually of one to five for the hypo-mania and the mania, so she would guide me on set I just completely let go and got out the way basically, I prepared. I learnt my lines, so I didn't even have to think of them so then I could improvise.

“I watched a lot of footage on YouTube at home of real people having manic episodes and did a lot of reenactment in my own flat so I could let go of the fear and embarrassment or the self-awareness.